New CNN Host Lisa Ling Will Eat Bugs With Anthony Bourdain Any Day

Journalist Lisa Ling's new CNN show This Is Life premieres this weekend, making Ling the only woman on the network's roster of original series stars—other hosts include Anthony Bourdain, Morgan Spurlock, John Walsh, and Mike Rowe. When I asked her at a press lunch on Tuesday if she felt any extra pressure being the only woman in the lineup, Ling said this: "I don't really feel pressure, because to be perfectly frank with you, I have more balls than a lot of guys. I would eat anything Anthony Bourdain eats."

CNN President Jeff Zucker preempted Ling's response with his own: "We didn't hire Lisa because she's a woman. We didn't hire her because she's multicultural. We hired her because she's an excellent journalist."

This Is Life will cover a variety of topics in its first season, including what Ling promises to be a "nonjudgmental" view of sugar daddies and sugar babies ("It was difficult for me not to be a mother hen [to the young women] and say 'What? Are you crazy?'" says Ling), drug use in Mormon Utah, where "genius" comes from, gay rodeo, and more. Ling's main criteria for choosing subjects, she says, is simple: They need to be issues she and the people she knows "would talk about at a dinner party."

Ling, who has worked in the news industry for over 20 years, started her career at Channel One News, sharing an office with Anderson Cooper. Since then, she's worked with Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey and just recently left Oprah's OWN, where she hosted Our America. She brought Amy Bucher, one of the executive producers of This Is Life, along with her from OWN to CNN. The two have worked together for six years, says Bucher.

When asked whether or not Ling thought she approached reporting differently, as a woman, she said, "It's not like my intention is to go and try to espouse a more feminine perspective.... I actually think our show appeals to both men and women." Ling added that her style of interviewing is not about interrogation but conversation. "I'm a very emotional person.... You will feel things when you watch our show—anger, outrage, respect for people...."

Watch the trailer for This Is Life below, and check out the season premiere this Sunday, September 28, at 10 P.M. ET on CNN: